Towels, toiletries, luggage needed for foster youth United Way’s Women in Philanthropy will be holding their annual Spring collection event to aid the foster youth in the community. The group will be collecting luggage, toiletries, and towel sets which will go towards the Sacramento County Emancipation Basket program. This program provides necessities to foster children who are aging out of the foster care system. United Way is making it pretty easy to donate. Anyone who wants to can do so directly through the United Way Women in Philanthropy wish list (link). The group will also be accepting donations at the event on May 16th. The Spring collection event for the Sacramento County Eman

What is Liberation Permaculture? When posed this question, creative organizer Rafael Aguilera’s answer is amazing pasta sauce. “It’s not all about gardening. It’s about village alchemy. How do we identify who has needs or skills in our own neighborhoods and work together? Is some guy growing tomatoes and has too many while another guy down the street has an incredible recipe for pasta sauce?” And as simply as that, the concept of permaculture is boiled down. Bill Mollison, who is credited with helping develop permaculture as a systematic process in the 1970s defined it as “a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than pro

The nonprofit organization Ubuntu Green is literally planting seeds of change within the Sacramento community, nearing completion of the first year of its Home and Community Gardens Project. The project seeks to provide low-income families in the Building Healthy Communities target area with healthier access to food and to create a greater sense of community in the selected neighborhoods. For more information on BHC, click here. Building Healthy Communities is a coalition comprised of many different community-driven organizations that are all funded by California’s largest foundation--The California Endowment. The BHC seeks to implement a ten-year plan to renew the health in children an

Local organizations focused on healthy communities are hosting an event in Oak Park on Saturday to educate the public about gardening and fresh food. The new coalition, Grow Together Sacramento, will create a few small gardens and teach the public how to set up gardens at the event. Paul Towers, state director of the environmental group Pesticide Watch, said the coalition will build gardens and focus on the question: “How do we get as much healthy food as possible into the hands and bellies of Sacramentans?” The Pesticide Watch Education Fund is a partner in the coalition, along with City Councilman Jay Schenirer’s office, Sacramento environmental group Ubuntu Green, the Sacramento Area

The weekend of Saturday, February 26th marked the kick-off of Ubuntu Green’s Home Garden Project. With the help of volunteers from the Sierra Service Project; Alternative Spring Break students from Loyola Marymount University; and the expertise of Soil Born Farms and Sacramento Yard Farmer, Ubuntu Green built 6 home gardens at 4 homes, which will allow residents to grow their own fruits and vegetables and lead to healthier lifestyles. To date, 9 home gardens have been built at 6 households with more applications coming every day. Over the next two years, with support from The California Endowment, Ubuntu Green and its partners will build 60 home gardens in 12 South Sacramento neighborhood

Wooden boxes of chard, kale and collard greens on Charles Mason’s front yard in Oak Park are likely to be installed at dozens of spots in Sacramento next year and into 2012. Mason, the founder of environmental nonprofit group Ubuntu Green, is organizing a project to place up to 60 small gardens in an area that includes the neighborhoods of Oak Park, Tahoe Park, Lemon Hill and Fruitridge Manor. The home gardens project, funded by the California Endowment, is one of three programs Ubuntu Green will focus on in 2011. Ubuntu Green will work next year on a land-use environmental project with eight neighborhoods as well as host an annual event in September on environmentally friendly living.

On November 21, 2009, the Sacramento Building Healthy Communities collaborative hosted two events in Oak Park and South Sacramento, designed to educate communities on the 10-year Building Healthy Communities (BHC) process. Earlier this year, the California Endowment awarded funding to 14 communities over ten years as part of their Building Healthy Communities program. This effort was designed to infuse at least $10 million into each community to bring about systemic change. The efforts are to be driven by four goals: • Health systems are family-centered and prioritize prevention. • Schools anchor communities, promote healthy behaviors and are a gateway for resources and services. • Human

Built Environment/Green Space Presentation November 10, 2009 5:30pm-7:30pm Sacramento Food Bank 3333 3rd Avenue, Sacramento, CA AGENDA Moderator: Charles L. Mason, Jr., Ubuntu Green Confirmed Panelists: Anya Lawler, Consultant, California State Assembly Committee on Housing Graham Brownstein, ECOS Davida Douglas, Alchemist CDC Brandon Kitagawa, Regional Asthma Management and Prevention, Statewide Coordinator of Community Action to Fight Asthma (CAFA) Constance Slider, Coalition on Regional Equity Invited Panelists: Paul Zykofsky, Director of Land Use and Transportation, Local Government Commission Randy Rosalex, Green Sacramento Builders Darnell Robinson, Clearinghouse CDFI

Dear Friends- As you may know, a arson fire was set at my home in the early morning on September 21st. My family and I are safe, and all necessary repairs and clean up, and replacements are being handled by our insurance company. We have had a great response from our neighbors and community leaders, who have organized a vigil tonight in front of our home to signify community strength and unity. If you are in the Northern CA area, we hope you can join us. Vigil Information - 2614 36th Street, Sacramento CA (between 1st and 2nd Avenue). 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. http://www.inmycommunity.com/imc_joomla/index.php?option=com_jevents&task=icalrepeat.detail&evid=1243&Itemid=0&year=2009&month=10&d

The green movement is in full swing these days. President Obama and his Administration are talking green jobs every day. The environmental movement is enjoying its day in the sun as the nation embraces green principles. Businesses such as Wal-Mart and Starbucks have implemented some sort of green practices. And, we even have Planet Green, the television station dedicated to teaching America how to live and build green.   Earlier this year, I launched Ubuntu Green www.ubuntugreen.org, a non-profit focused on building sustainable and equitable communities. I was particularly concerned with the impact of the green movement on urban centers, low income families and communities of color. It be

For Immediate Release Contacts: Charles L. Mason, Jr. (916) 475-4290 cell cmasonjr@yahoo.com Alvin Vaughn (510) 909-2347 celladvaughn@hotmail.com “Ubuntu Green Sponsors “Green the Block” Activities For Oak Park Neighborhood” September 1, 2009—Sacramento, CA—Ubuntu Green, a Sacramento community-based organization, is the lead sponsor of this year’s Green the Block event. Green the Block is part of a nationwide effort to give communities of color a voice in the emerging clean-energy economy. The event will coincide with the National Day of Service on September 11, 2009, where volunteers nationwide will take part in improving their communities. The Oak Park United Methodist Church a